1963.120.FA Rufino Tamayo, Dog Howling, 1960

In this lithograph, Rufino Tamayo revisits a theme from his prolific painting career both preceding and during the Revolution. The artist lived out the war years in New York, freeing himself from the Mexican art scene, which was dominated by muralists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco. It was also in New York that Tamayo was exposed to a prime model for developing his treatment of animals—Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. The influence of the Spanish vanguard painter is undeniable, as seen in the violent and hybrid characteristics of the howling dog. Tamayo’s dog stands in a bleak landscape, mouth agape and prominently displaying his serpentlike fangs.

Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.

Tamayo_Rufino: ULAN: 500024331

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Oaxaca (state/Mexico): TGN: 7005591

Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227

New York (New York/United States): TGN: 7007567

color lithographs: AAT: 300041383

lithographs (planographic prints): AAT: 300041379

lithography: AAT: 300053271

chromolithographs: AAT: 300041384

chromolithography: AAT: 300053272

Mixografia (R) (embossed prints): AAT: 300265654

embossing (technique): AAT: 300053826

prints (visual works): AAT: 300041273

works on paper: AAT: 300189621

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395

dogs (animals): AAT: 300250130

Canis (species / dogs / coyotes / wolves / jackals / dingos): AAT: 300265714

standing: AAT: 300239500

abstract: AAT: 300108127

abstraction: AAT: 300056508

howling (actions / concepts): DMA

mouths (animal or human components): DMA

teeth (animal components): AAT: 300400467

fangs (teeth): DMA

serpents (snakes/Serpentes suborder): AAT: 300250870

hybridity: AAT: 300262022

landscapes (environments): AAT: 300008626

landscapes (representations): AAT: 300015636

moon: AAT: 300386951

sky: AAT: 300263064

texture (physical attribute): AAT: 300056362

geometric shape: AAT: 300263819

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272

background: AAT: 300056369

outlines (linear form): AAT: 300124267

violence: AAT: 300192799

wars: AAT: 300055314

battles: AAT: 300185692

revolution: AAT: 300055312

Rivera_Diego: ULAN: 500025126

Siqueiros_David Alfaro: ULAN: 500008908

Orozco_José Clemente: ULAN: 500012316

model (concepts / creative process): AAT: 300247279

Picasso_Pablo: ULAN: 500009666

Spain (nation): TGN: 1000095

painters (artists): AAT: 300025136

Until 1961: Marvin Small, Fort Lee, New Jersey [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

1961-1963: Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, gift of the above [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

From 1963: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Marvin Small, transferred from the above, May 30, 1963 [1], [6], [7], [8]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.  

[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Jacob D. Weintraub, New Art Center Gallery, New York, to Douglas MacAgy, Director of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (dated November 14, 1961, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is letter from Douglas MacAgy, Director of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, to Marvin Small (dated November 16, 1961, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] The main source for this provenance is letter from Jacob D. Weintraub, New Art Center Gallery, New York, to Douglas MacAgy, Director of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (dated November 28, 1961, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[5] The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift (dated November 16, 1961), copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[6] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

[7] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

[8] Pursuant to the April 19, 1963 Agreement of Merger between the Dallas Association and the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (DMCA), the collection of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts was transferred to the Foundation for the Arts.